Down 'n' Derby (Love and Skate 3) by Lila Felix

Reviewed by Donna ~ 4 Stars

I adore Lila Felix’s style of writing and again this one was no exception. It is the cutesy romance that we all love to gush over and so beautifully written. This book is Maddox and Storey’s story.

We only caught little glimpses of Maddox in the previous two books,  he found out at a young age that his parents “the Blacks” were in fact his aunt and uncle. His mum had died shortly after giving birth to Maddox and so entrusted his care to her twin sister as the dad was not on the scene. Once Maddox found out about his real identity he became twitchy, he could be touched or touch anybody it literally made his skin crawl, the boy who has never kissed, been loved or been touched…he was totally innocent.

When Maddox graduates at 18, he decides to go on a road trip to find his real father with his cousin Nixon. He sneaks out in the middle of the night as he thinks that the family would not support his decision. As we know from the last book Maddox and Reed are best mates so he does keep in contact with her…however, by Reed keeping this a secret from the family what pressures will it out on her relationship with Falcon??  I will say this part of the book was a bit slow in places but it soon sped up when Maddox and Nixon run into Storey.

 

Storey is a pin up girl model and also another Derby girl. She is currently modelling so that she can pay her way through college. She is confident, determined, uber sexy but has a little problem with relationships. After being hurt badly in her previous one, which was a first real love and long term she finds it hard to trust and love again.

Maddox and Nixon run into her on the beach, again it is a case of sort of instalove but who cares, the way it is written is brilliant and just sucks you in. As I said above, Maddox cannot touch or be touched so this scene after Maddox touches Storey for the first time is beautiful…

“I sat in shock a few more moments before a wide grin spread over my face. I touched her. I touched her – no twitching, no bug crawling under my dermis, nothing but pure ecstasy. I didn’t question why or how, I just knew what was real”

Although they hadn’t known each other very long and they did steam straight into a relationship it didn’t feel rushed, you felt their connection instantly and it was almost as if fate has brought them together. They were both each others saviours to a degree. I loved the way that when they all went to the Black’s Storey was immediately welcomed as you would expect. Storey was instantly recognised as her alter ego from her Derby days so fit in with the girls instantly.

The love that the Black family have for each other is truly amazing, you can feel how the family connects through the pages and you just want to be a part of it. Once again Lila adds her random thoughts to the beginning of each chapter that just make me laugh, although some are a bit more serious, once again they are alternate POV’s which I love.

The ending, touch of genius Lila Felix, I am not going to say anymore but I loved the visitor to the Black’s family dinner.

 

I cannot wait for Nixon's story in book 4 - Caught in a Jam which is due for release late summer.

Book 5 - False Start is due for release in October.